The present invention relates to a tobacco recovery system and more particularly to a system for separating useable tobacco particles from dust at selected locations in a cigarette making process and returning the useable particles into the feed end of the cigarette making process.
Presently in the cigarette making process, tobacco is fed from a cut tobacco feed source to a hopper for feeding tobacco at a metered rate to a cigarette rod forming section of a cigarette making machine. The transfer of the cut tobacco from the feed source to the hopper for the cigarette making machine is generally accomplished by air conveying through appropriate conduits or feed pipes at relatively high speed. The cut tobacco in the hopper is then fed to the cigarette rod forming machine wherein cigarette wrapper paper is fed into the machine and through a garniture wraps selected amounts of tobacco into a long rod which is then cut into sections and fed to a filter tip attachment machine or section of a cigarette making machine wherein cut filter tips are attached to the cigarette rods. Dust and small useable particles of tobacco evolve during the cigarette rod forming as well as the filter tip attaching processing steps. Dust recovery systems are generally provided wherein the vacuum side of the dust recovery systems include appropriate piping attached to the cigarette rod forming and filter tip attaching sections whereby the evolving dust and light or small useable tobacco particles are transported to a dust collection container. The dust and tobacco particles in the dust collection container can then be used as feed for reconstituted tobacco.
An object of the present invention is to recover useable cut tobacco particles during the cigarette making process.
It is also an object of the present invention to reintroduce recovered useable tobacco particles directly into the feed end of a cigarette making machine.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a control system capable of managing the recovery of tobacco particles from a cigarette making and filter attaching steps of a cigarette making process and reintroduce useable tobacco particles into the feed end of the cigarette making process.
More particularly, the present invention provides a tobacco recovery system in combination with a cigarette maker comprising: a feed hopper having a first inlet in flow communication with a tobacco feed source, a second inlet in flow communication with a tobacco dust recovery system and a tobacco discharge outlet; a cigarette rod forming section of the cigarette maker having a tobacco inlet in flow communication with the tobacco discharge outlet from the feed hopper, a tobacco rod discharge, and an opening in flow communication with a tobacco dust recovery system; a filter tip attachment section of a cigarette maker having the tobacco rod inlet in flow communication with the tobacco rod discharge, a completed cigarette discharge outlet, and an opening in flow communication with the tobacco dust recovery air stream; and, the tobacco air recovery air stream having an outlet in flow communication with an inlet to the tobacco dust recovery air stream separator, the tobacco recovery air stream separator having a first outlet in flow communication with the feed hopper and a second outlet in flow communication with a dust collector. Preferably the tobacco dust recovery air stream separator includes a solids separating device, such as a tangential separator, screen type separator or centrifugal curved conduit having an inlet in flow communication with the tobacco air recovery air stream outlet, an outlet in flow communication with said dust collector and an outlet in flow communication with an inlet to a vertically disposed solids classification chamber, such as a fluidized bed. The solids classification chamber includes a large particle outlet disposed in a bottom of said classification chamber and a small particle outlet disposed in a top of said classification chamber.